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Super Bowl 54 Preview: San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Super Bowl 54

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Super Bowl 54 will feature the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The 49ers have not won a Super Bowl in the last 25 years. The Chiefs have not won a Super Bowl in the last 50 years. Either a quarter or a half century of history will be updated on February 2nd, 2020.

Both Super Bowl teams feature head coaches who have constructed winning systems around the talent that they possess. Andy Reid has a prodigy at the QB position and this has led to the construction of a nearly unstoppable passing attack. Kyle Shanahan has taken talent that other coaches have overlooked and integrated them into a system that can win a conference championship game while only passing the ball eight times.

The line for this game is Kansas City -1.5. Predicting this game as a toss-up is appropriate given how well both teams have played throughout the regular season and playoffs. Let’s take a look at what both teams have to do in order to win Super Bowl 54.

San Francisco at Kansas City (KC -1.5): Sunday, February 2, 2020 – 6:30 PM ET (FOX)

How the Chiefs Win

Patrick Mahomes
(David Eulitt/Getty Images)

Defeat the pass rush

San Francisco’s pass rush is the best in the league. The combination of five former first-round picks has given even the most elite quarterbacks a difficult time this season. Patrick Mahomes is special and can seemingly extend any play with his movement. If the Chiefs’ signal-caller cannot get rid of the ball quickly, those play-extending qualities will be tested.

The Chiefs have the weapons to help Mahomes with getting rid of the ball quickly. Tyreek Hill is as dangerous taking the top off a defense as he is catching a quick slant and running up the field. Damien Williams has done a great job in recent weeks of capitalizing on QB-draw plays to burn defenses on outside runs. Creativity in play-calling, an attribute Andy Reid certainly possesses, will be key to defeating the 49ers’ pass rush.

Force Jimmy Garoppolo to pass

Jimmy Garoppolo threw the ball 8 times in the conference championship game last week. 8 times! The 49ers put up 37 points, which is nearly half of the total passing yardage that Garoppolo accounted for. This is a testament to the outstanding system that Shanahan has created. This is also not an indictment of San Francisco’s quarterback. He might yet be great, but San Francisco’s system has not needed him to prove it yet.

In order to place the 49ers in a position where Garoppolo has to prove himself, the Chiefs will have to score quickly. The 49ers have succeeded primarily because of their ability to move up in the scoreboard before their opponents and then stay ahead with their outstanding running ability. If Kansas City can get ahead by more than one score early on, they will be in a perfect position to test Shanahan’s commitment to the run and Garoppolo’s ability to be a game-winner.

Manage the clock

This is ironic because managing the clock is typically a strategy that Kansas City’s opponents have to implement. But when the 49ers can score 37 points by running as explosively as some teams pass, managing the clock becomes very important.

Andy Reid has been criticized throughout his career for failing to use time wisely in critical game situations. While much of this criticism is fair, Reid usually has good reason to trust his offense more than valuing the clock. As funny as this may sound, a shootout against San Francisco could get Andy Reid in trouble. Shanahan does an excellent job of managing the clock and he will certainly do everything in his power to keep the ball away from Patrick Mahomes. If Andy Reid does not do the same, this could signal big problems for the Chiefs.

How the 49ers Win

Jimmy Garoppolo
(Mike Dinovo/USA TODAY Sports)

Secondary support

As mentioned above, the 49ers pass rush is excellent. Unfortunately for the 49ers, so is Patrick Mahomes. As much pressure as this pass rush will generate, it will not be enough to completely keep Mahomes under control; he will escape and extend plays. It is, therefore, up to San Francisco’s secondary to come up with a performance that can counteract Mahomes’ creativity.

Richard Sherman is San Francisco’s best defensive back. However, neither he nor any player in that secondary can contain the likes of Tyreek Hill. It will take a true team effort to hold zone coverage long enough to have Mahomes run out of options even while he is extending plays. Fortunately for the 49ers, their linebackers are almost as good as their defensive line. Utilizing them to support in zone coverage should help slow down the Chiefs’ offense. Nonetheless, the task of slowing down Mahomes will still be a difficult one.

Commit to what has been working

Kyle Shanahan has no problem being himself. He has revolutionized the zone running scheme to a point where any player on his offense could take the role of a running back at any time. There is no reason to steer away from that in this game. Establishing the run sets up Jimmy Garoppolo for an easier time passing the ball.

Regardless of the score, especially early in the game, it is important for Shanahan to stay true to his game plan. If the game evolves into what happened against New Orleans earlier this year, then Shanahan surely has a plan for that. But, it makes little sense to walk into this game assuming that this is the path it will take. The 49ers need to walk into Super Bowl 54 determined to dictate the narrative, not adjust to it.

Special Teams

It happens an innumerable amount of times that special teams ends up deciding football games. This aspect of the sport often becomes the great equalizer when two teams at different levels play each other. In a game where the line is 1.5 points because the teams are so even in terms of quality, special teams could very well dictate the Super Bowl champion.

Whether it is a blocked punt or field goal, an outstanding kickoff or punt return, or simply a better performance by Robbie Gould than Harrison Butker, if the 49ers can win the special teams battle, it will go a long way to winning the game. The 49ers should win the defensive fight and have a shot, at the very least, at keeping pace with the Chiefs’ offense. Should special teams yield a convincing winner, it must be San Francisco in order for them to walk out of Miami with their sixth Lombardi trophy.

Prediction: San Francisco 37 Kansas City 34

It will be a great game. As explosive as the Chiefs’ offense can be, San Francisco has the better all-around team. Super Bowl 54 goes to the 49ers.

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